A new academic year, time for a new start?

For many this a time of renewed good intentions, but like New Year’s resolutions these can fall by the wayside all too quickly! Find out more how you can establish good habits for the year ahead.

21 September 2018

If you’re returning to Queen Mary after the summer vacation, welcome back! You survived the last academic year and are hopefully feeling refreshed and ready to start work again. For many this a time of renewed good intentions, but like New Year’s resolutions these can fall by the wayside all too quickly! Find out more about how you can get into good study habits here.

If you finished last year feeling frazzled and exhausted and swore never to leave things to the last minute ever again, then now is a good time to think about what you might like to do differently this time. Did you find yourself procrastinating and having to stay up all night before a deadline only to end up feeling you hadn’t really done your best? Did you spend the year working all the time and not socialising only to end up feeling lonely and isolated? Did you get behind with things because of problems outside of university that you didn’t talk to anyone about? If any of these scenarios feel familiar then you’re not alone. Many students have these experiences and it’s never too late to turn over a new leaf.

Things to try

If you found yourself procrastinating and getting stressed as a result there is a free app called 'unstuck' that can help here!

If you’ve found yourself struggling to feel a part of the social side of university life and it’s something you want to change then there are some great tips and ideas available online. This US site has some great tips on building your social life!

There are also quite a few books in our bibliotherapy collection that can help, including titles on improving your self confidence, overcoming social anxiety and developing healthy relationships.

Ask for help

If you are experiencing difficulties in your family or personal life, even if they don’t seem to be connected to university at all, they can still effect your studies. If this is happening to you then it’s important to seek support sooner rather than later! Try talking to your personal tutor/mentor/advisor, or your departmental Student Support Manager (ask your school admin team if you’re not sure who this is). You might be surprised by how much support is available at university. If you feel you need to talk to someone privately, you can also take a look at the Advice and Counselling website which explains the sorts of things we help students with and how to make an appointment. For information about all of our Advice and Counselling services, visit the website.

Enjoy your year and, if you’re in difficulty, please do talk to someone!